Pages

Saturday, March 15

Rebecca Donovan - Reason to Breathe (Breathing #1)

"No
one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. This was the place
where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews
unravel my constant universe in just one day?"

In the affluent town of Weslyn, Connecticut, where most people worry about what
to be seen in and who to be seen with, Emma Thomas would rather not be seen at
all. She’s more concerned with feigning perfection while pulling down her
sleeves to conceal the bruises - not wanting anyone to know how far from perfect
her life truly is. Without expecting it, she finds love. It challenges her to
recognize her own worth - but at the risk of revealing the terrible secret
she’s desperate to hide.

Reason to Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique
tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl’s fragile grasp
of hope.

Review:

WARNING:
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I
hated this book, so if you liked it I don't recommend you to read my review. While
I was reading this I felt like this all the time:

I know lots of people (nearly
everyone) love love love this book but it was just too much for me. I can get
why Emma didn't tell anyone about her abusing aunt but I can't relate to her
even if I was trying real hard. Basically the reason why she kept the secret of
her home life locked is that she didn't want her cousins to be taken from a
mentally unstable woman and her "what I don't see isn't a problem"
husband. Yeah I get that Emma wants the best for these children who, so far,
have had a good life with caring parents so I won't complain about the fact
that she kept the secret.

Still Emma annoyed me to hell at some points. A lot of her problems were caused
by herself. When it was about Evan who liked her, was a good guy and Emma liked
him back, she said she can't have a boyfriend because she has to concentrate on
her grades. Remember this is a guy who she likes (after a time loves) but he
clearly didn't worth the effort. And then here comes Drew who she knows a
little about, who clearly has a past with one of the girls and who was at a lot
of Jason kind of parties. Clearly he IS the guy who Emma should be with. Emma
supposed to be mature because a girl who has an alcoholic mother and an abusing
aunt has to grow up fast but when she hears gossip about Evan and the other
girl, she jumps right into Drew's arms.

Sara was one of the few reasons I
kept reading. She is the most wonderful friend in the world. Even if she is
popular she didn't get rid of her best friend who has a terrible life with a
little free time and with hard problems. (aren't we all dream about a friend
like her?) I know that because of the storyline Emma needed a great friend but
why on Earth Donovan couldn't make a less perfect character, something more
believable. Okay so this is an imaginary story so let's move on. Oh and another
bad thing about her is when we get to know her better we realize that she likes
sex a little bit too much... but in the book nothing serious happens between a
guy and her. So how is that?

Evan is another perfect character, he
is sweet and caring and all kinds of things which can make a girl swoon. I
never get the real reason why he went away for three months. Why he went off
without a freaking word then came back the same way? He was sooo jealous and
sooo angry at himself and he was disappointed because Emma didn't want him next
to her hospital bed. So this means he has to go away? What about fighting for what
you want? Or was he just prepared himself for the big fight for Emma's heart?
(Sorry for exaggerating things) After he moved back without a word and even
packed his things out (who read the book knows that is a really big thing for
him)even if he wasn't sure about that Emma loves him.

Emma's aunt was a
little bit too much for me, I know these things happen and here's something I
really liked. First I thought that it would be her uncle who beats her up all
the time, but no it wasn't. This book showed that a women can be as cruel as a
man even if she is sweet on the outside.Her uncle was in some conditions worse
than her aunt because he wasn't crazy (don't even try to say that her aunt
wasn't crazy because normal people don't do things like this) he just chose not
to see what happens right before his eyes.

Which
made me dislike the book more was the teachers. Yeah they realized something
bad is happening to Emma (which is a good thing) and finally made an effort to
protect her but why did some of them suspected it was Evan... I mean he didn't
come to the school long ago and the problems started way before his arrival. So what the hell? Another thing is that I don't understand why Sara's parents (who were portrayed
really kind and caring) didn't tell the police or the Child Welfare or anyone
what Emma is going through. Sara and Evan are really young so it's more
understandable why they did kept it as a secret, when Emma asked them to.

I don't even know what to tell about this book that is good. I wanted to write
from Sara and Evan just good things, because despite all I liked them but I
failed terrible as you can see.

I always try real hard to like each and every book but this freaked me
out. Let me tell a few scenes that were completely irrelevant. The whole Drew
made another girl pregnant was kind of pointless... or the scene where Drew
locked himself up with Emma and Evan had to break the door.

The
story idea: 5/5
The realisation of the story: 1/5
The characters: 2/5
The cover: 2/5
All in all: 2,5/5

I
wouldn'trecommend thisto anyone, but because so much people
loves it I'll just say that if you like books with meaning, (even than do not)
read this.